Sunday Sample - The Long Game

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Nothing sent me running faster than a woman
trying to tie me down in a relationship before we'd been out a half-dozen
times. Corinne wasn't demanding, and I liked that.

My thoughts fizzled when the doors opened. I
raised one hand to allow what's-her-name to get off ahead of me.

She smiled again and walked alongside me to the
front door of the building.

"Catch you tomorrow," I said, as a
prelude to parting ways with her.

"Um, my car isn't working and I was
wondering … "

I didn't hear anything else, but worked my brain
to come up with a way to get out of giving her a ride. "I have to make a
stop and I have someone waiting for me."

"I don't live far from here, so I won't take
you out of your way."

"Where d'you live?"

She told me her address, which would take me out
of my way since the supermarket where I liked to shop lay in the opposite
direction. I should have given her an excuse, but I'd feel terrible about
leaving her stranded. In any event, she must have planned to go to the bus stop
before she ran into me. At times like these, I cursed my father for his
insistence on teaching me things that always got me trapped in situations like
these.

Be a gentleman, no matter what.

Never leave a lady, or anyone who needs your
help, stranded.

The good you do always comes back to you.

Going against what I wanted, I told her to wait
in front of the building and brought my van around.

She climbed in and being who I was, my gaze went
to her legs, where her skirt was hiked up to mid-thigh. Her legs reminded me of
rich, dark chocolate and before I could blink, I'd come up with a compliment
that was sure to soften her up.

But I never said a word.

Since I wasn't looking for any trouble, I stuck
my eyeballs back inside my head and focused on the cars ahead of me.

"So is it true you have more women than you
know what to do with?"

Frowning, I took my eyes off the road which was
bumper-to-bumper with traffic. "What did you say?"

"You have a reputation. I was checking to
see if everything I hear is true."

"Why would you believe any of that?"

"You're a good-looking guy and the rumor is
that you're never out with the same woman more than a couple of times."

Laughing, I glanced at her. "That's far from
accurate."

"So you're saying there is at least a grain
of truth in there somewhere?"

"I'm not saying anything. I might
incriminate myself."

"And here I was, beginning to think you were
salvageable."

I didn’t say anything, but I was disgusted. Why
did people form opinions based on hearsay and little else? Yes, I stayed busy
with women, but I did the best I could to keep my private life out of the
office.

My annoyance had more to do with her words
sounding like something Ayisha would say than anything else. The woman at my
side had pushed me back into the weekend without trying and now I was teed off
and couldn't wait to get rid of her.